Flint and Feathers
by FinnKaenbyou
Summary: A rambunctious human child wanders into a shut-down mine, and it's up to Keine to rescue him. But this trip might give her a little more than she bargained for...
1. Chapter 1

It was depressing how far kids would go in the name of rebellion.

Keine lingered on the thought as she stood at the entrance to the mine. The sun had vanished below the horizon, leaving an ashen-grey sky in its wake. Given a choice she'd be holed up at home right now, passing the evening with a good book and some classy wine.

Sadly, the children of the village had other ideas.

"I could have sworn I taught that boy how to read."

Keine sighed as she picked up a sign lying at her feet. WARNING, it screamed, in a huge font that was impossible to ignore. DERELICT MINE. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT ENTER. The kappa had put it up decades ago when they shut the place down, but besides some threatening messages there was nothing to stop a passer-by from walking in.

"Oh, you kappa." Keine shook her head. "So considerate of the world around you."

She could have stood around to grouch all day if she wanted, but there were more pressing things to worry about. The hakutaku pulled a match out of her dress pocket, using it to light the lantern she'd brought along with her. She stepped into the mineshaft with slow, careful steps, holding the lamp in front of her to light her way.

"Jiro? Can you hear me?"

She called out, her voice echoing across the stone walls of the corridor. There was no reply; all she could hear was the distant dripping of water.

"The other kids are done with hide and seek," she continued. "You won! By a landslide, even. Why not come out and rub it in their faces?"

Still no response. He must have been too far in to hear her. That, or he was-no, she wasn't going to consider that option yet. She paced further down the passageway, keeping her eye out for side passages that would make good hiding spots.

The mine was as old and battered as the sign had promised. The wooden pillars were lined with cracks and rot, threatening to snap at any moment. Tools and gadgets had been tossed across the ground, their edges coated with thickening rust. The stench of mould assaulted her nose, sending a wave of bile up her throat.

"I know you're in here, Jiro." Keine channelled all her experience as a schoolteacher into her voice. "Let's make a deal, shall we? You come out and promise not to play in here again, and I'll make sure your parents don't hear about it. Does that sound fair?"

With every second that passed without an answer, Keine felt a primal fear rising in her chest. She was supposed to be the village's guardian. How could she have let this happen on her watch? What was she supposed to tell his parents? She murmured a prayer to any gods that happened to be watching, hoping she hadn't arrived too late.

Once she'd cleared out all the side chambers, the only way forward was an elevator shaft. There were hand-cranks on both sides of the pit, one for each of the two cage lifts. One of the cables had snapped a long time a long time ago, but the other still seemed in workable condition. Jiro must have used it to sneak further into the mine.

With a comfort that only came from practice, Keine stepped forward into the empty air. She floated down the empty shaft, swerving about to avoid the spikes of jagged metal poking from the walls. Her lantern was the only source of light she had now, and she held it close as the bottom of the shaft came into view.

Lying on the floor was a pile of scrap that had once been an elevator.

"Oh, no-!"

Keine swooped down to inspect the rubble first hand. The lift cable had snapped about twenty feet from the bottom, leaving the cage to plummet the rest of the way. There was no sign of the second cage that should have been down here, but that hardly mattered to her right now.

"Jiro!"

Keine dug through the heap of battered metal, only slowing down to keep from cutting herself. Drops of blood were spread across the wreckage – fresh blood, newly spilled. Holding her lamp to the floor, she could just make out a trail of crimson trickle down the passageway. The boy was hurt, but he was still alive...for now, at least.

"I'm coming, Jiro!" she called out, hoping the human could hear her. "Just hang on!"

Keine raced down the corridor, the sight of blood sending her brain into overdrive. The cavern started to split into junctions, near-identical corridors that seemed to go on forever. As morbid as it was, the trail was the only lead she had to go on.

As she plunged deeper into the mine, she felt a throbbing pain crawl along her skull. Her muscles grew stiff and heavy, to the point where even holding up the lantern became a challenge. Had she pushed herself that hard already? She continued regardless, fighting down her body's calls to retreat.

It was too late by the time she realised her mistake.

"Haah...agh-!"

Keine snatched at her throat with one hand. Her mouth hung open, sucking in every drop of air it could muster. But no matter how hard she gasped and wheezed and panted, the oxygen never made it to her lungs.

 _Toxic gas…!_

She turned to back out of the corridor, but the strength had already left her legs. Her knees buckled inward, and she crumpled to the ground like a piece of damp paper. The lantern dropped from her hand, rolling along the ground and out of reach.

"Nng...hgg..."

Keine cursed her own recklessness. She'd forgotten that pockets of poison gas were a common peril in mines this old. Sparks and stars danced across her vision as her consciousness began to fade.

 _Jiro...I'm sorry…_

The world around her decayed into vague shapes, then flashing colours. For a moment she swore she heard footsteps coming close, and the silhouette of something yellow standing over her.

Then the only thing she saw was a sea of black.

* * *

"Mmrrngh..."

Keine woke up to the faint smell of mildew tickling her nostrils. A wretched haze still coursed through her brain, and she blinked rapidly in an effort to dispel it.

 _Where am I…?_

She pushed herself up to a sitting position, feeling like her arms had turned to stone. Metal bars encased her from all directions. A jail cell? No, that wasn't right. It was an elevator cage, like the one she'd found crashed on the floor of the shaft.

There'd been an effort to refurbish this one, though. A bed of straw and feathers ran across the floor, and one side of the cage was devoted to a collection of beautiful crystals. There was a poster on the far wall proudly declaring it had been eleventy days since the last mining accident. And most importantly, there was a small body huddled up in the corner of the room.

"Jiro!"

She stumbled across the cage as her strength returned to her. Jiro had a bandage wrapped around his leg, carefully tied to stem the flow of blood. He was unconscious, but from the peaceful look on his face she'd have sworn he was just sleeping.

"Thank the gods you're alright...!"

Keine wiped a trail of tears from her face. It was only once her relief had passed that she started asking the bigger questions. She hadn't been the one to find Jiro, or the one to treat his injury. In that case, who was?

"Oh hey, you finally woke up!"

A beam of light poked through the bars of the cage, blinding Keine for an instant. She strained her eyes to make out a figure standing on the other side, something sharp and metal resting in her hands.

"Who's there?!" Keine braced herself for combat, grabbing a spellcard from her pocket. "If you're here for the boy, you'll have to get through me first!"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" The outside figure backed away with a frantic chirp. "You've got it all wrong, miss! I'm not gonna eat anyone! Heck, I'm not even that hungry!"

Keine hesitated. Her eyes acclimated to the light, and the stranger outside became fully visible. It was a bird youkai of some sort, her yellow wings coated with a layer of soot and dirt. She gripped at a pickaxe in both hands, too unwieldy to be any use as a weapon. A miner's helmet covered her ruffled brown hair, its lamp firing a guiding light inside the cage.

"Who are you?" Keine raised an eyebrow. "And what are you doing here?"

"My name's Nakari Kirohane, miss." The youkai bowed to Keine, almost losing her helmet in the process. "I'm here 'cause there are shiny things in the walls, and I wanna dig them out."

Keine frowned. "But this mine's been closed for years."

"Really? Guess that explains why I've got the place to myself, then." Nakari kneeled down in front of Keine. "How're you feeling? I got you out of the gas pretty quick, but even a little can mess with your head."

"I...think I'll survive." Keine rubbed at her eyes as she started to piece the facts together. "Were you the one who rescued me?"

The bird girl rubbed behind her neck. "I guess you could call it that, yeah."

"And Jiro?" Keine motioned to the human on the floor. "You found him as well, didn't you?"

"I mean, it was hard not to." Nakari pouted. "I was working the walls as usual, when all of a sudden-BAM! There's this big crash from the elevator shaft. Seriously, I nearly jumped right outta my skin." She grabbed at her chest. "Lucky for him, I keep a first aid kit on hand for emergencies."

Keine's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It seemed she'd made some hasty assumptions.

"Thank you," she said, swallowing down a hefty chunk of humble pie. "Sorry for being so aggressive before."

"Eh, it's fine." Nakari rubbed at her nose. "Mining's a harsh way of life. It's normal for newcomers like you to be on edge."

The bird flexed one arm in a transparent act of showing off. Her build wasn't much to write hom about, Keine noticed, but those arms had a good bit of muscle to them. She supposed that came with years of digging through solid rock.

"Still, how exactly did you rescue me?" Keine rubbed at her throat. "Shouldn't the gas have knocked you out as well?"

"Oh, that stuff doesn't do anything to me." Nakari smirked. "It's my secret canary superpower."

"A canary, you say?" Keine closed her eyes, searching through the archives of her memory. "Those are the birds that miners from the outside world took into the shafts, right?"

"Yup, that's me. Or at least it was until I died and stuff." Nakari spoke of the event without a hint of grief. "Then I woke up here, and suddenly those stupid fumes couldn't do anything to me. I've been working on my shiny collection ever since." She motioned to the line of rocks taking up one side of the cage. "Aren't these babies just incredible?"

Keine gave the collection a closer look. She had to admit there were some beautiful specimens here, but she doubted they had any actual worth. Most of them seemed to just be pretty rocks rather than precious ores. That was probably why the kappa had given up on this mine to begin with.

"Anyway, thank you again for taking care of Jiro." Keine looked over the boy, checking that he was safe to move before lifting him up. "That said, we really need to get moving. Can you tell me how to get out from here?"

"Eh? You're leaving already?" Nakari's wings drooped. "But you're the first visitors I've had in forever!"

"I know, and I'm sorry." Keine looked down at the small boy in her arms. "But I need to get him home as soon as possible. His family is worried sick."

Nakari shot Keine the most pitiful glance she could manage. It was a look Keine had seen plenty of times before, mostly from students looking to avoid detention. As usual she gave no quarter, matching the pout with a hardened glance of her own.

"Mrr. Fine." Nakari hung her head as she pulled open the door to the cage. "Follow me."

"Thanks."

Keine made sure Jiro was safely in her arms before stepping out of the elevator, following along behind the canary. It turned out she was thankful for the guide – the lower floors of the mine were a labyrinth of twists and turns, and she'd have definitely gotten lost if she hadn't had someone to lead the way. Never mind all the gas pockets she had to worry about.

"Hmm hm hm..."

Nakari strolled casually through the passageways, whistling little tunes to herself as she went. The oppressive darkness of the mine didn't seem to faze her all, Keine noticed. If anything she revelled in it, using the rumbles and creaks around her as a backing track for her song. It was an enthusiastic performance, although Keine noted her pitch control could do with some work.

"Huh?"

As they passed by one wall, the sound of rushing water overpowered everything else. She remembered seeing a river nearby as she made her way into the mine. Had the mineshaft been built next to it?

"Ugh." Nakari's face scrunched up. "Can we hurry up a little? I don't like it here."

"I can't go any faster." Keine looked down at Jiro. "I'd rather not risk injuring him any more."

"Mrrr..."

The canary tiptoed nervously through the passageway, her wings tense and ready to flap at any moment. Keine had to wonder – what exactly was she so uncomfortable with?

By the time they made it out of the mine, the moon was hanging high above Gensokyo. It wouldn't be a full moon for a few days, but it was close enough to make Keine's blood tingle with anticipation. She fought down her beastly instincts, keeping her mind on the matter at hand.

"I can take it from here." She stepped around Nakari, savouring the fresh air. "Thanks again for the help."

"Mm."

Nakari stared down at the ground, rubbing at her forearm with an overwhelming sigh. It wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking about. Most of Gensokyo's birds were expressive and simple-minded, and it seemed like the canary was no exception.

"Um, miss?" The youkai twiddled her fingers. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Miss is what my students call me," Keine replied. "Keine is fine."

Nakari nodded. "Miss Keine, is it okay if I come with you to the village?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Keine bit her lip. "If the townsfolk saw a youkai walking through the streets, the reaction would be...unpleasant."

"Oh." Nakari slumped her shoulders. "I guess that makes sense."

A pang of guilt stabbed at Keine's heart. Could she afford to make an exception here? No, she couldn't. The villagers were already on edge after Jiro's disappearance. Bringing Nakari along would only cause more unrest.

"I'd stay longer if I could," she said. "Don't you have other youkai you can hang around with?"

"Nuh-uh." Nakari shook her head. "Everyone says I'm scruffy and I smell like dirt."

 _Not entirely incorrect,_ Keine thought. "I'm sure a bath would-"

"A bath?!" The canary let out a shrill tweet. "No no no no no. Not an option. Trust me."

Keine frowned. "Why not?"

"Water is..." Nakari gulped. "I don't like it. I can't swim, and when it gets in my wings they get really heavy and it's scary and...yeah."

"Ah."

Now Keine was wishing she hadn't asked. She'd clearly touched on a sensitive topic, and she definitely didn't want to part ways with Nakari on such a bitter note. Especially not after everything the canary had done for her.

"OK, how about this?" Keine said. "I'll come back to see you tomorrow. You can tell me all about your favourite stones then."

Nakari's eyes lit up with hope. "Really? You promise?"

"On my life." Keine tucked in her eyebrows. "Could you maybe leave directions at the bottom of the shaft for next time, though? I'd rather not walk into a gas cloud again."

"Of course!" Nakari's wings flapped hard enough to lift her off the ground. "Thank you so much, miss Keine! This is gonna be so much fun~!"

"I told you, Keine is fine." The hakutaku bowed. "And I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Keine offered a wave with her less-occupied hand before turning forward, starting the long walk back to the human village. She looked down at the boy resting in her arms, his usual cocky smirk replaced with a peaceful smile.

Thinking about it, she and Nakari had a lot in common. They weren't the smartest, and they didn't have a shred of common sense between them. But they were passionate about what mattered to them, and pursued it with all their heart. That was what Keine had come to love about Jiro.

And maybe, she wondered, it was something she'd come to appreciate in Nakari as well.


	2. Chapter 2

"Miss, what're you reading about?"

Setsuna poked her head over the teacher's desk, peering at the book resting on it. She squinted at the archaic text, and Keine could see the little girl's brain cave in on itself.

"This book's a little too tough for you, dear." She gave the schoolchild a gentle pat on the head. "It's about mines in the outside world."

"Mines?" Setsuna's mouth popped open. "Like the one Jiro fell into?"

"...Yes, like that." Keine sat up straight, eager to change the subject. "It's very interesting! I'm learning lots of things I never knew before."

"But you're a teacher, not a student."

"There's no reason I can't be both." Keine smiled. "You'll understand when you're older, dear."

Setsuna wore the innocently precocious look that all children seemed to be born with. "Daddy says what happened to Jiro was a diss-grayce."

Keine gripped tightly at the book. "Did he, now?"

"He was shouting about it with the other grown ups." Setsuna continued, blissfully unaware of Keine's reaction. "He says they should blow up the mine with a kun-trolled demmy-lishun."

Keine sighed. "Grown ups say they'll do a lot of things they'll never plan on doing." She pulled out her canned teacher's smile. "Setsuna, why don't you go play with the other children?"

"Mmkay."

Setsuna waddled off to join the rest of the class. From what Keine could hear, they were having an argument about which of Gensokyo's shrine maidens would win in a fight. A contentious topic, and one she didn't want to take a side in.

Once the little girl was preoccupied, Keine reached upwards and squeezed at her temples. It had been a few days since the incident at the mine, and the adults of the village were still up in arms about it. Anti-youkai rhetoric had been rampant, with calls to sanction trading with the kappa as punishment. None of it would go anywhere, of course; kappa technology was too convenient for the villagers to simply abandon.

Then came the calls to cave in the entrance so there wouldn't be more accidents in the future. Normally Keine would have been all for that course of action, but knowing someone lived in there changed matters entirely. She'd been visiting Nakari in secret after sundown for the last few days, but she hadn't mentioned the canary to any of the humans yet. The last thing she wanted was for a lynch mob to go after an innocent youkai.

She was glad for the day to be over. The students headed back to their families as the sun began to set overhead. It would be a full moon tonight, which meant an evening locked away at home riding out her transformation. Most of the humans weren't aware of her were-hakutaku heritage, and now was a bad time for anybody to find out.

She had just finished cleaning up the classroom when the door swung open.

"You still use chalkboards around here?"

Keine felt a new tension rise in her shoulders. "They do the job fine, Nitori. There's no point in fixing what isn't broken."

"Yeah, but they take forever to clean." Nitori wore the disdainful look kappa saved for technology they hadn't invented. "I can get you some whiteboards on the cheap if you want. Since you're a friend and all."

Keine pushed out a breath through her nose. Nitori was the village's most prominent kappa trader, which basically meant she was the most obnoxious. She'd made a living out of barging onto people's property to sell them inventions they'd never asked for. Unfortunately, the gadgets were just convenient enough that people would buy them anyway.

"I hope you have a good reason for being here," Keine said. "I'm really not in the mood for your solicitation right now."

Nitori puffed out her cheeks. "You're a really tough customer, you know that?"

"Frankly, I'd rather I wasn't a customer at all."

"Fine. I'll skip right to the good news." Nitori drew a cucumber from one of her many pockets, chewing on it as she spoke. "So you know that whole mine accident that everyone's talking about?"

Keine glared. "The one that happened because you kappa didn't clean up after yourselves?"

"Hey, we put up warning signs and everything." Nitori folded her arms. "It's not our fault the kid didn't listen."

"Just get to the point."

"Well," Nitori said as she puffed out her chest, "since we pride ourselves on being friends with the humans of Gensokyo, we decided we'd do you a favour. That mine won't be causing any more trouble from now on."

"Let me guess." Keine rolled her eyes. "You put up an even larger warning sign this time around."

"It's more permanent than that." Nitori rubbed at her nose. "So there's this river that runs right next to the mine, right?"

The hakutaku felt her throat go dry. "What did you do?"

* * *

"Hmm hm hm~"

Nakari whistled to herself as she ran a cloth across the surface of her latest find. Excavating the shinies was only the first half of her job – just as important was keeping the stones polished so they could show off their full radiance.

"Picked up a real nice specimen today." The canary smiled at her own reflection in the crystal. "Think I might even add this one to the hall of fame!"

She brought the crystal back to her nest, finding a place for it among her collection. It was a careful process that demanded a lot of thought – she couldn't just put them up in any old order. There were deep, meaningful aesthetics to keep in mind, especially since other people would be seeing the fruits of her labour.

After some deliberation, she placed the newest crystal near the top of the display. It wasn't quite the prettiest thing she'd ever carved out of the rocks, but it was definitely up there. She tipped it forward ever so slightly, ensuring it would stand out from amongst its neighbours.

"I bet miss Keine is gonna love this one."

Nakari beamed. She'd been mining twice as hard since her new friend had arrived. Collecting shinies was already fun, but having someone to share them with made things even better. When she wasn't mining she was showing off the tools that the kappa had left behind, with Keine listening in and paying attention to all of it.

"I really hope she visits again tonight." Nakari rubbed her hands together, wiping off a layer of dirt. "Those drill bits I found are sure to-"

Her pondering was cut short by a massive bang.

"Wha-!?"

Nakari flinched, her wings swinging forward in a huge flap. What had that been? She knew all the little noises these passages made, but this one was new to her. Had one of the shafts caved in?

"Wait...there's more?"

The canary cupped a hand around her ear, pressing it against the wall. She could hear a rumbling noise in the wake of the first crash. A low rumble hummed through the stone, accompanied by a violent sloshing. It grew longer the more she heard of it, and when she realised what direction it was coming from a chill ran along her feathers.

"I think...I think I need to go."

Nakari scooped up her shiny collection in one arm, holding her pickaxe in the other. She backed away from the source of the rumbling with clumsy steps, almost tripping over herself more than once. All the while the growling in the walls was getting louder, a churning like the juices of a giant stomach.

She turned around just in time to see her cage engulfed by a wall of raging water.

* * *

When Keine made it to the mine entrance, she found a squad of kappa engineers gathered in front of the passageway. Two of them were dripping wet and drying themselves off with towels, while a third was reading through measurements on a laptop. From the jovial compliments they were sharing, they'd already finished the job.

"Oh, hey, aren't you the village guardian?" One of the damp kappa saw her approach and frowned. "I bet Nitori spoiled the surprise. We wanted to tell you after-"

"You IDIOTS!" Keine grabbed the woman by the collar. "Do you have any idea what you've just done?!"

"H-Hey, what gives?!" The small kappa gasped in shock before pushing Keine away. "We go ahead and solve your problem for you, and this is how you thank us?"

"There's a youkai living down there!" Keine yelled. "And you morons might have already killed her!"

The cheering stopped. Keine felt the air harden around her as the engineers shared looks of quiet dismay. Behind them Nitori barrelled over the horizon, gasping and wheezing from exertion.

"It's no good, Keine." Nitori shook her head. "The hole in the lakeside is too big for me to plug. We can't stop the water from flowing in."

Keine's blood was running backwards in her veins. Somewhere deep inside her was an all-consuming terror, but there was no room for it to rise to the surface. All she could feel now was primal, unholy rage.

"You thought you'd block off the mine by flooding it?" she growled, staring right into the soul of the head engineer. "Is that how you kappa solve all your problems?"

"We didn't know, okay?" One of the other kappa stepped forward in her friend's defense. "Nobody told us the mine was occupied."

"So you didn't even bother checking before you blew the damn thing up?" Keine could scream at them all day, but she didn't have time. "Look, you need to send a rescue team in there right now. Otherwise Nakari's going to die for sure."

The engineers went painfully quiet. Each of them looked at the others expectantly, waiting for anyone other than themselves to volunteer. With every second they hesitated, Keine felt a deeper nausea rile through her gut.

"Don't just stand there, dammit!" Keine stomped at the dirt hard enough to leave a footprint. "Quit feeling sorry for yourselves and _do something!_ "

"We'd love to, but..." One of the kappa spoke up, hiding her eyes behind her glasses. "Even if your friend did survive the cave-in, we can't just swim down there and bring her out."

"She's right," said the kappa at the computer. "With all the water currents swirling around, the cave system is extremely unstable. The whole thing could collapse at any minute, and if that happened we'd all die as well."

"So you're just going to shrug your shoulders and move on?!" Keine was incredulous, barely remembering to breathe between sentences. "You're all pathetic, every last one of you!"

The engineers collectively backed off, looking every direction other than forwards. Even Nitori was averting her gaze, keeping quiet out of fear she'd be called out as well. That silence said everything Keine needed to hear.

"...Fine. I see how it is."

She looked up to see the full moon emerge from its hiding place behind Youkai Mountain, blessing her with its enchanted light. Power coursed through her body, the blue streaks in her hair erupting into a neon green. A tail rose out from her back, and her horns stood tall and proud atop her head.

"Nitori." She addressed the kappa without turning around. "You've got diving gear in your inventory, right?"

"Eh?" Nitori blinked. "I do, yeah, but-"

"Bring me a set. Right now." The hakutaku started stretching. "If no-one else is going to do it, I'll save her myself."

* * *

"I just want to reiterate this is a terrible idea."

Nitori shared her opinion for what must have been the hundredth time in the last ten minutes. To her credit, at least she had been prompt to supply what Keine had asked for. The other engineers had made excuses and run away as soon as they found the chance.

"If I wanted your opinion, I'd be paying you for it," the hakutaku snapped. "Now hurry up and finish those checks."

The snipe was enough to put Nitori's focus back on the job. She looked over each piece of equipment before slipping it onto Keine, offering a brief explanation for each of them.

"Suit and gloves will protect you from sharp stuff," she said. "Fins make your swimming easier. Belt counters your buoyancy. Flashlight makes sure you can see what you're doing down there. Got it?"

Keine nodded. The outfit felt strange on her, but she was grateful for it. She'd need all the help she could get for what she was about to attempt.

"Right, most important thing." Nitori held up two hand-sized mouthpieces. "Rebreathers. One for you, one for your canary friend."

"...They're awfully small." Keine creased her brow. "Can't you give me anything larger?"

"The tunnels are too narrow for a full tank. This is the best you've got." Nitori shook her head. "They'll hold enough air for a round trip, but you'll have to haul ass."

Keine nodded. She bit down on the mouthpiece for a moment, acclimating to its weight and taste. There was probably a lot of complicated machinery that went into the device, but she didn't care as long as it worked. She strapped the second supply to her belt, ready to hand over to Nakari when the time came.

"I don't get why you need to go through all this trouble," Nitori said. "You can change history on the full moon, right? Why not just rewrite reality so your friend's not in danger?"

Keine spat out the mouthpiece. "Too recent. My powers are for things that happened much further in the past. And I don't have enough power to make huge changes to reality – it's got to be something clear and specific, or it doesn't work."

"Right." Nitori sighed. "Guess we wouldn't be having this conversation if it was that simple, huh?"

Once the preparations were complete, Keine looked down into the water. She was sitting on the edge of what had once been the elevator shaft. Gushes of bubbles burst up to the surface as the flooding continued to worsen, devouring the last few pockets of air inside the mine. Darker thoughts tugged at her mind, but she slapped her cheek to drive them away. She couldn't afford to be distracted now.

"Alright, you're as ready as you'll ever be." Nitori swallowed. "Good luck down there."

"Thanks," Keine replied. "I only hope that I don't need it."

She slipped on her air supply, pushed herself forward, and vanished into the rising water.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hsshh..."

The sounds of Keine's breathing rattled in her ears. She gripped the elevator cable for support as she descended, aiming her flashlight into the depths below. Pieces of the shattered lift drifted through the shaft like fish, scraping roughly at her sides. She brushed them aside with the back of her hand, refusing to let them slow her down.

Before long she was back in the lower levels, swimming through the coiling tunnels of the mine. They'd been confusing enough the first time she used them, but now they were more labyrinthine than ever. She could hardly keep track of which way was up, never mind any other direction. Was she retracting her steps, or did all these passages look the same? She had no idea.

 _Come on, Nakari. Where are you hiding?_

Keine placed herself in the canary's shoes. Nakari knew every inch of these tunnels, so she'd know the best place to hide from the rising water. She'd flee to the highest point in the mine she could. But how was Keine meant to follow when she had no idea where she was going?

"Mm?"

Amongst the tunnel's debris, something shone the light of Keine's torch back at her. Pulling closer, she found a glimmering crystal resting on the floor. She picked it up, turning it over to examine it from all angles.

 _Isn't this part of Nakari's collection?_

She aimed her flashlight further down the passageway. Sure enough, there was another sparkling light amongst the rubble. Nakari's favourite crystals were scattered throughout the mine, charting her path like a trail of breadcrumbs. Keine wasn't sure if it was deliberate or if the bird had dropped them by accident, but it hardly mattered. Now she had a lead to follow.

 _Please, hang in there just a little longer!_

As she followed the trail of brilliant stones, the walls began to shudder around her. The wooden pillars holding up the passage whined as the water pressure pushed them beyond their limits. It wouldn't be long before they gave in altogether, triggering a full-blown collapse of the mineshaft. She swam as fast as her legs could carry her, sucking down thirsty gulps of air from her mouthpiece.

 **Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.**

A new sound rose up amongst the creaks and howls of the earth. It was the sound of metal smacking against rock, hammering with loud and frantic swings. Keine followed the noise until it led her upwards, into a shaft that hadn't finished flooding yet. She waded through the passageway, the water lapping at her waist as it continued to rise.

"NAKARI!"

She spat out the rebreather, yelling down the corridor hard enough to burn her throat. The hammering only stopped for an instant, then started again with twice the intensity. Keine pushed harder, her blood burning up with stress and adrenaline.

Finally, at the end of the shaft, she found what she'd been searching for. Nakari was slamming her pickaxe into the far wall, knocking down more rocks with every swing. Her whole body was trembling, her wings weighed down by the water soaking through her feathers.

"Nakari!" Keine couldn't hide her relief. "You're alive!"

Nakari started at Keine's voice. She turned around, her puffed up eyes brimming with tears. "M...Miss Keine? How did you-"

"I'll explain later." Keine grabbed the youkai by the shoulder. "We need to get out of here before the whole cave falls apart."

"B-But how?" Nakari's trembling worsened. "There's so much water everywhere and I can't swim and it's so cold and scary and I can't I can't I can't-!"

Keine winced. She hadn't realised how severe the canary's phobia really was.

"Shhh." Keine wrapped the girl up in a deep and intimate hug. "It's okay, Nakari. It's going to be okay."

Nakari sniffled. "B-But-"

"I'll protect you, alright?" The hakutaku kept her voice calm and gentle in spite of the water lapping at her chest. "Nothing's going to lay a finger on you while I'm here. That's a promise."

Nakari's mouth bobbed open and shut. "You...you mean it?"

Keine smiled. "I've never lied to you before, have I?"

The canary looked ready to cry again, but this time she managed to swallow down her tears. She let her pickaxe fall into the water, clutching at Keine's wrist with all her might.

"Good," Keine said as she held up the spare mouthpiece. "Now put this on, and whatever happens don't let go of my hand."

Nakari nodded, using her free hand to bite down on the rebreather. Keine recovered her own just before the water engulfed them completely, consuming what was left of the air pocket. She watched the canary carefully, making sure the girl was breathing comfortably before anything else. Nakari was still shuddering, but her chest was rising and falling as it should have.

Next she pulled the canary through the tunnel – gently to start with, then faster once Nakari was following her. The bird wasn't much of a swimmer, her legs flapping about in wild and reckless kicks. Keine had to slow down a little to avoid leaving her behind.

Once they were out, all that was left was to retrace the path they'd taken. Again Keine used the fallen crystals as a reference, leading Nakari back towards the elevator shaft. Her rebreather let off a shrill beep, warning her that her air supply was running low. That wouldn't matter, she thought to herself. They were close now, and all it would take was-

"Hyuummm!?"

Nakari squealed as the walls around them shook violently. The support beams shattered under the pressure, and a hail of rocks descended from the ceiling.

The cave-in had begun.

 _Look out!_

Keine pulled Nakari out of the path of a falling boulder. She cut a route through the crumbling tunnel, banking on her years of danmaku experience. Nakari squeezed her hand for dear life, a flurry of smaller rocks battering at the canary's helmet. If they moved fast enough, maybe they'd make it out before-

 _!_

Keine looked up to see a massive bolder that had been hiding in her blind spot. There was no time for her to dodge, and it was aiming right for her skull. She braced herself for the impact, only to be pushed to the side.

"HMMMMMMMF!"

At the last moment, Nakari shoved Keine out of the way of the rock. It crashed into the canary's helmet, sending shockwaves through her slender frame. She managed a pained yelp before passing out, the rebreather dropping from her lips and vanishing amongst the rubble.

 _Nakari!_

Keine shook the canary by the shoulders in an attempt to rouse her. Nakari stayed motionless, a few errant bubbles dribbling from her lips. Keine pulled off her mouthpiece to hand it over, only to realise the beeping sounds coming from it had stopped.

 _We're out of air-!_

Running on pure desperation, Keine pulled Nakari's body through the tunnel. They had to get out of here right this minute. The elevator shaft was right in front of them, and then they'd be home free.

Instead, all Keine found was a wall of boulders.

 _No…!_

Her heart sank. There was no way she could dig through the rubble before she ran out of air. She was trapped.

"Mmf..."

Keine's chest heaved inwards as her body demanded another breath. Her only chance was to find a way through this barrier, but how? Her brain churned through thoughts at light speed, looking for anything that could save her.

The twinkle of something hidden in Nakari's pocket was the spark she needed.

 _Is that…?_

Keine reached into the pocket, pulling out one last glittering stone. This one hadn't been part of Nakari's collection; it must have been a new one she'd discovered just before the flooding began. But in the end, it was just like the rest of the crystals – beautiful, but ultimately useless.

Unless Keine went back and revised the facts.

 _It's crazy, but it's my only hope…!_

Focusing on the stone in her hand, Keine called upon her lineage as a hakutaku. She closed her eyes, a tapestry unfolding on the back of her eyelids. It was an intricate record of every moment of Gensokyo's history, overwhelming in size but unparalleled in beauty. She squeezed the stone in her hand, filling her thoughts with it, and the tapestry guided her to the patch of time she needed.

Then, with her other hand, she envisioned a new line running across the parchment. The stones, she commanded, had been laced with magical impurities from the beginning. Nothing noticeable to the naked eye, but if they were fed enough energy from outside…

 _Please let this work…!_

Keine looked down at the crystal in her hand. There were yellow specks across its surface now, a sign the change had gone through as planned. She channelled the full moon's blessing, pushing its power into the stone. The lights grew brighter, then started bouncing around inside the stone like they had minds of their own. Keine kept on feeding it, adding more and more energy until the crystal couldn't take any more-

 _Now!_

She tossed the stone into the barricade just as the lights became blinding. Moments later it erupted in a blast of magical energy, turning the pile of boulders into a fine dust.

"Hmmnnggbb-!"

Keine pushed herself through the opening before it could collapse again. Her chest was about to explode, her spent air forcing itself out of her nostrils. She pulled herself up the elevator shaft with one arm, dragging Nakari behind her with the other.

"PuHAAAAAAAAA-!"

Keine broke the surface with moments to spare, filling her starving lungs with much-needed oxygen. She wheezed out long, rattling coughs as the rush of adrenaline passed from her veins. Her arms were wrapped around Nakari's waist, holding the canary's head as high as her tired arms could manage.

"Haa, haaah..."

Once she'd caught her breath, Keine noticed a new rope rolling down from the top of the shaft. She grabbed onto it, and with a sudden jerk she was being lifted out of the water. The mechanism pulled her onto dry land, where an anxious Nitori was waiting for her.

"Holy shit, I can't believe you made it out of there!" The kappa placed her hand on Keine's shoulder. "Are you okay? How're you feeling?"

Keine sluggishly shook her head. Honestly, she felt worse than she'd ever felt before in her life. But it wasn't her that she was worried about.

"Na…" Her lips could barely form the words. "Nakari. She's..."

Nitori gasped, looking down at the motionless canary in Keine's arms. She pulled Nakari away, resting her on the ground and placing an ear against her chest.

"Dammit," the kappa cursed. "She's not breathing, and I'm barely getting a pulse."

She held Nakari's mouth open, checking for blockages before starting on mouth-to-mouth. Keine was too exhausted to offer any sort of assistance. All she could do was watch.

"Still nothing." Nitori's hands began to shake. "Come on, come on, come on..."

She kept up the process without skipping a beat. Pushing air into Nakari's lungs, then hammering her chest to restart her heart. Keine counted the minutes in her head, a cancerous despair trickling along the inside of her gut.

Just as she was about to give up hope, she saw Nakari's chest rise up on its own.

"Ghrrrkk-!"

The canary's eyes popped open, her pupils the size of pinheads. She curled up into a ball, heaving lungfuls of water across the floor of the cave.

"NAKARI!"

Keine stumbled over to the canary, engulfing her in a desperate hug. The girl's skin was unnaturally pale, and a faint blue tinge still hung on her lips. She looked like she was ready to drop dead – and a few moments ago, she had been.

"M...Miss...Keine…?" Nakari blinked rapidly, like her eyes hadn't quite turned on yet. "I'm glad you...turned out alright. I...don't think I can share any shinies with you today..."

"Oh, who cares about your silly shinies?!" Keine buried her face in Nakari's nape, tears rolling down her cheeks. "What matters right now is that you're alive, you idiot!"

"Nn?" Nakari's tiny bird-brain took a while to process the statement. "Mm...yeah. I guess that's...pretty important too."

They both went quite for a few minutes, recovering from the ordeal they'd just been through. It was Nakari who ended up breaking the silence.

"So, um..." She looked at the flooded elevator shaft with a heavy sigh. "Where exactly am I supposed to live now?"

"Ah." Keine swallowed. She'd been too caught up in the immediate danger to think about that. Luckily Nitori intervened before either of them had time to worry.

"I know where we can hole you up," she said. "Just give me a while to pull some strings..."


	4. Epilogue

"They picked quite the spot for this, didn't they?"

Keine had to take a break on her journey up the mountain path, leaning on a nearby stone to catch her breath. It made sense they'd pick somewhere well away from any lakes and rivers, but it certainly didn't make visiting very convenient.

Once the altitude sickness had passed, she started on the last leg of her trip up the mountain. Eventually she found a small passageway leading into a secluded cavern, something she'd have never noticed if she wasn't looking for it. Gensokyo was full of beautiful secrets like this, rewards for youkai curious enough to hunt them down.

The kappa called it the Cave of Lights, and it was easy to guess why. Every wall was lined with dozens – no, _hundreds_ of radiant crystals that fought for her attention. There was no natural light source in here, but when one stone shone its light bounced through to all its neighbours. She'd seen them shimmer long into the night, well after darkness had fallen for the rest of Gensokyo.

"Hmm hmmm~"

A familiar whistle told Keine where to look next. She found Nakari picking at a side wall, eyeing an embedded crystal with blatant avarice. A long strip of duct tape held her helmet together, but the lamp still wobbled every time she moved her head.

"Liking your new home, I presume?"

Nakari squeaked, swinging around with her pickaxe at the ready. "Oh, miss Keine! It's just you." She lowered her weapon, then tried to hide it behind her back. "Sorry. Gotta watch out for new youkai stepping on my turf."

"They'd have to find it first." Keine's eyes skimmed approvingly across the cavern. "Think you can make a new collection out of this?"

"Oh, definitely. Better than the last one, even." The canary pouted. "It's weird, though. I tried to bring a shiny with me when we were leaving the mine, but I've got no clue where it went. You think I lost it somehow?"

"I, uh...I guess so." Keine turned her gaze away. "It's not like anything else could have happened to it, right?"

Nakari nodded along, her expression still a little wistful. There was no way Keine could tell her she'd blown up the last crystal on purpose. Even if it had been necessary to save her life, it would still break the poor girl's heart.

"It was nice of the kappa to let me have this place, though." The canary brushed off the thought, straightening out her battered helmet. "They seem like really nice people."

"I think it's the least they could do after nearly killing you." Keine grumbled. "But at least it seems like they've learned their lesson from this. And more importantly, you're still with us."

"Yeah." Nakari rubbed at her arm. "I don't think I ever thanked you for that. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Keine said. "It's fine."

"It isn't, though." Nakari tensed as old memories came back to her. "When all that water started rushing in...honestly, it was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me." She looked up at Keine. "But when you said you'd rescue me, I felt like I could trust you. If it had been anyone else, I don't think I would have made it out."

Keine was quiet for a moment. She felt like Nakari would place a lot of weight on whatever she said next, so she wanted to choose her words with care.

"I know what you're talking about." Keine's eyes hardened. "When I saw Jiro's blood at the bottom of the elevator shaft, I felt like the world had stopped spinning. It was my job to protect him, and in that moment I thought that I'd failed."

She smiled brightly. "But thanks to you, none of the things I was scared of ended up happening. You probably think I'm some sort of superhero, but the truth is that you helped me as much as I helped you. As far as I'm concerned, that makes us even."

She placed her hand on Nakari's shoulder. "So let's leave the past where it belongs, okay? You've got more important things to worry about. Like getting those rocks into those grubby hands of yours."

Nakari gasped, her wings fanning out behind her. Then she nodded furiously, meeting Keine's smile with one of her own.

"You've got it, miss Keine," she said. "My new collection is gonna make the last one look like pebbles on the riverbank. It's gonna bring in tourists from all over Gensokyo. I can see the headline now – Local Canary Wows Audience With Her Super-Sparkly Brilliance!" She blushed for a moment. "Y-You can come see it any time you want, though. Since you're a friend and all."

"That's the spirit."

Keine felt a weight rise off of her shoulders. Nakari was at her best when she focused on what she cared about. If Keine could support her in doing what she loved, she'd offer all the help she could.

"On that note, one of the kappa came to talk to me today." Nakari's wings flapped giddily behind her back. "She said she was working on a drill that'd make my digging way easier. And she's even gonna give it to me for free! All I'd have to do is work in her factory for a month or seven, and-"

Keine groaned. Apparently the kappa hadn't learned from all of their mistakes.

"Nakari, I think we need to talk about your business sense..."


End file.
